


underwater caves, saltwater room

by starspecters



Category: One Piece
Genre: M/M, No Spoilers, Pre-Relationship, i might make this a drabble series because 500 words is. limp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 21:14:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15894264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starspecters/pseuds/starspecters
Summary: zoro reflects.





	underwater caves, saltwater room

Zoro holds Luffy steady at the anchor of his lower back.

It’s a light brush of contact, especially for Luffy -- who's so rowdy-tumbling-whirl of heel flying over chin and collapsing into crew mates, endlessly uncaring in his own gravitational tug --, but the deliberacy bunches a line of tension in Zoro’s knuckles. Overly intentional, the way he curves his own appendages into fish hooks to pull Luffy back to him, away from the faraway gaze to the sea.

The thin, scratchy fabric of the vest turns to sandpaper beneath the pads of his fingers, so Zoro pulls back easily, rests his freed hands in the crooks of his elbows as he lazily cocks his hip.

“Oi, Zoro! Thanks!” Luffy whips his head at neck-breaking speed, eyelashes already bowed in half-moons and smiling wide enough to see gum. He has a dimple, cut into his left cheek.

Zoro looks away. “Don't go barreling off the side of the ship, idiot. You can't even swim.” The faux-irritation falls flat; he scratches at his own nape to relieve the bubbling embarrassment within him, latent as seaspray. Salt and blush mix into a taffy over his tongue, and it makes it hard to not stumble over words, phrases that should be simple after… however long it's been, vague insults now sounding overly fond and profound, sweet tones chafing his mouth as they echo, _captain, captain._

“Ah, Zoro?” Luffy tilts his head, eyes like dinner plates (amusingly fitting), inquisitive lilt beseeching. Zoro -- well, he didn't think his sudden hypersensitivity was noticeable, but Luffy’s known him longer than most. He has a weird knack for it, this bumbling into the right thing at the right time -- not just in spite of his bluntness, but because of it.

Luffy presses closer slightly, no hesitance in the way he grabs Zoro’s personal space and physically chucks it overboard, arms propped behind his head in two distinct “V” shapes. He smiles brightly, a solar beam in the lampshade of the Merry’s mast. “You're a good first mate, y’know?”

Zoro clears his throat tightly, heat simmering on his neck. His heart hammers out of time for a fraction of a second before he manages to remember he has no reason for his internal turmoil, his stomach suddenly seasick in a rolling mimic of the waves despite never having been seasick in his life. Unable to offer proper response, he just nods sharply, jaw jutting into a hard line from where he clenches his teeth.

Nodding cheerily, Luffy pulls back -- until he suddenly hesitates, a clearly bothered scrunch of his eyebrows folding wrinkles above his nose. Zoro counts the seconds, so close to being able to breathe normally again he can almost taste it, so close to being away from whatever the hell Luffy did to make him feel so ill suddenly.

“ _My_ first mate,” Luffy says abruptly, then nods again, more thoughtfully, this time seeming genuinely satisfied. With a gaping laugh, he spins away, off to mess with Usopp and Chopper, but Zoro is stuck, nailed to the planks beneath him.

_My first mate_ , repeats his thoughts, stuck looping like a mockingbird, a woozy spiral in his mind. _My first mate, my first mate._

With a shaky breath, Zoro levels his gaze with the horizon, but the flips in his stomach remain, and the moment lasts long into his spiking heart rate.

_My captain_ , he thinks.

**Author's Note:**

> anna kayla claus if ur reading this...... this is for u
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/hellpngs)


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